solid flatty. that's what me and my buddies have been doing for the past month. about 4 days ago my friends little brother caught a 41 pounder. fish was as big as him. ill try to post a pic of it. we get a lot of 20 pound fish. haven't gone up that far yet but will soon.

Those things will eat a fish it can barely get in its mouth. I recently caught one at Safe Harbor that ate a sunny so large when I pulled him in the cat was not even hooked. The hook was only in the sunny and the sunny was stuck in its mouth. The sunny's dorsal fin was wedged in and it would not come out.

Those keeper smallmouth are perfect bait for big flatties. That being said I don't use smallies I prefer suckers and creek chubs. Sunnies work well to but the long skinny body that chubs and suckers have work better.

I believe they have changed the recommendation to throw them on the bank. It is beyond hope when you are catching 45lb cats that have been in there for years. its unfortunate but it is what it is at this point. It has generated a fishing boon here along the Susky, new sport fishing for big cats.

Are the flatties really having a big impact on the bass? Some great bass rivers out in the NW part of the state are also great rivers for flatheads, but then again they are both native and have been interacting with each other forever. And one thing I find funny is smallies also aren't even native to eastern PA

springer1, from what I've read/heard and a little from experience flaheads are mainly a live bait(panfish, suckers, etc.) deal, but I know people occasionally catch them on cut bait and even artificials when fishing for bass and other stuff.

The PFBC request to not return the captured flatheads was cancelled about two years ago when, as evidenced by flathead population growth in the Susquehanna and Schuylkill, it was clear that harvest was not making an impact.

By the way, as I recently pointed out, there is nothing to support the notion that flatheads have been harming the Schuylkill R smallmouth population that could not be better supported by the evidence of habitat degradation and resulting limited reproductive success. Where habitat is good for reproduction and fingerling nurseries, we still have substantial fair to good reproductive success despite the location being within the stretch of high flathead abundance (Bridgeport).